The government gave a commitment at the 2nd Asean Women Leaders' Summit in Cambodia on Thursday to promote women's empowerment.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha made the commitment, via teleconference, emphasising how women entrepreneurs and workers create real benefits to social development and economic stability.
Gen Prayut took the opportunity to underscore how Thailand has carried out measures to empower women in the areas of enacting empowerment policies, capacity building, and creating a conducive economic environment.
He said that the next step for Asean would be to further empower women to become a key driving force in economic development and part of the Asean community building that is sustainable and united in the post-Covid world.
These can be achieved in three ways, Gen Prayut said.
The first is implementing gender mainstreaming into economic policies both at the national and regional levels. The second is setting goals that enhance women's ability to learn from the past and tackle future crises while the third way is promoting the new Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model or BCG.
The prime minister also expressed confidence that cooperation and unity within Asean are essential in the empowerment of women, including promoting the role of women entrepreneurs through the Asean Women Entrepreneurs Network (AWEN). Such a network will help create an Asean Community that is equal, prosperous and people-centred where no one is left behind.
The 2nd Asean Women Leaders' Summit in Phnom Penh was held in a hybrid format. It was also a platform for Asean leaders and women to meet and discuss challenges and opportunities for Asian women entrepreneurs. Ten Asean leaders and representatives delivered remarks at the event.
